7 Fantasy Tropes I Like and Dislike

Hey everyone! I’m back with another writing post, and as the title states, I will be going over seven fantasy tropes I like, and seven I dislike. Now, I mentioned a couple of these in my post a few months ago, which you can see here. But this post will be focusing more on tropes in Fantasy rather than just random things I want to see more of.

Note: Not all of these tropes are exclusive to Fantasy, but can and are used in it.

Seven Fantasy Tropes I Like

Favorite Trope #7: Love Triangle/Square

Though not a huge fan of romance, I do enjoy myself a good love triangle/square, if I like all the characters involved in it, and the romance is written well. The conflict between two people liking the same person is fun, if all the characters are likable and the romance isn’t predicable.

I especially like the trope of a love square in Superhero stories, where both characters are superheroes and they like each other’s opposing identities (like maybe the Male Super likes Normal Female and dislikes Super Female, and Super Female likes Male Super but dislikes Normal Male). It makes for some interesting misunderstandings and fun conversations as they discover they really like each other both as their super-and-normal identities and then are revealed to be the same person.

Favorite Trope #6: Unreliable Narrators

Now, I haven’t read too many stories with unreliable narrators, but those which I have read, I have enjoyed. I like trying to figure out what’s going on, and to have hints dropped, then have a twist reveal something that makes sense in light of all the hints, but is unexpected due to the narrator’s unreliability.

I myself have a story where I employ this technique, and it was super fun, though a little bit tricky, to do.

Favorite Trope #5: Enemies to Lovers

Probably my favorite romance trope, if I had to pick one, is the classic enemies to lovers. I like it when sparks fly between the two characters–sparks of a fight, rather than interest. However, like with all romances, this must be done a certain way, especially in regards to the female side of it.

My favorite version of this trope is in the Anne of Green Gables series, between Anne and Gilbert. They start out as enemies, then rivals (much of it only on Anne’s side, though), then become friends, and after several rocky moments, lovers. It’s such a classic story and my first introduction to the trope as a kid; I’ve never stopped loving it.

Favorite Trope #4: The Secret Heir

This trope is close to my all time favorite trope listed below, but it is a little different. This trope is generally attributed to the main character, who is secretly the child/heir of a king, wealthy millionaire, or some other important person. But generally in fantasy, it is the heir of a king or emperor. The main character themself is ignorant of this trope, they don’t know who they are, or believe they are someone that they’re not, whether because they were kidnapped as a baby, their mother didn’t know the identity of the father, or they were hidden away for their own protection. Often during the course of the story, they and other characters find clues and uncover secrets pointing to the character’s real identity.

Favorite Trope #3: Redemption Arcs

As someone who often relates to villains more than main characters, this is always a plus for me. There have been a few times where I’ve been satisfied with villains getting death or not being redeemed, but most of the time, I love a good redemption, especially when the redemption is caused by a family member (or soon to be family member, like a future spouse/future adopted child). Plus, it shows that nobody is ever too far gone from redemption–and as a Christian, that is a very important truth.

One of the best and most obvious redemption arcs is that of Darth Vader from Star Wars. Not only did he redeem himself, it was for the sake of his son, which, as I said above, is my favorite form of character redemption.

Favorite Trope #2: The Found Family

I mentioned this trope in the post I linked above, so I won’t go into too many details, but thanks to the manga/anime Spy x Family, I have really begun to love this trope. Not only do I love that show/series, I also have a Found Family in my own main work in progress.

This trope consists of a group of people coming together whether coincidentally or out of necessity for a certain reason (to defeat a certain evil, win a prize, or maybe each character has different reasons) and over time, they either become a literal family (as in the case of Spy x Family) or just act like a family. Often in this trope, there are several other character tropes involved, such as the Dad/Mom Friend trope, among others, depending on their roles in the “family”.

It’s just a very sweet trope, often with lots of fluff as the found family shows how they love each other despite their differences in background, ethnicity, personalities, and maybe even goals and desires.

Favorite Trope #1: Hidden Nobility

And now, for my all time favorite trope, the one I’d absolutely LOVE to see more of–the Hidden Nobility trope. This trope is different from The Secret Heir one, in that, in The Secret Heir, the main character does not know their identity. In the Hidden Nobility, the character knows their identity, but is keeping it hidden for some reason or another–maybe he/she wants to explore their country, or they’re on the run from someone trying to kill them. I absolutely love just about every version of this trope I have read.

The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen is probably one of the most popular books that employ this trope, and, save for one thing (which I mentioned in the post linked above) I LOVED the book. (And she employed the unreliable narrator trope as well which gave it double points for me!)

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Seven Fantasy Tropes I Dislike

Now, while there are of course, always exceptions with tropes done exceptionally well or in a way I like them, these next seven are tropes I generally don’t care for. That is not to say you shouldn’t use them; if you like them, go right ahead. These are just seven I feel are either overused, too cliche/convenient, or just plain annoying (to me personally).

Disliked Trope #7: The Calvary Arrives

This one is one I can like, if done correctly. However, many times this trope comes across as too coincidental, which annoys me. The trope is, the main characters are struggling against the villain(s) and all seems to be lost, then, moments before imminent destruction, an allied force or some other savior arrives.

As I said before, done correctly, I can really like this trope. But most of the time, I prefer to see the Main Characters defeat the villains and get out of the sticky situation on their own, further cementing their role as the Main Character/s.

Disliked Trope #6: The Lucky Novice

Again, like the above disliked trope, if done well, I like this trope. Done well being the key words there. This is the trope where a character who’s never done something before, or has only been doing it for a little while (thus being a novice) gets “lucky” and somehow defeats someone who’s been honing their skills for years and years, or figures out something everyone else has overlooked for generations.

While a “lucky” event like this could technically happen once or twice, depending on the situation, a character who is, for example, battling a villain who has been fighting for a century and defeats him with only a year or two of fighting practice, is just too easy and coincidental, without there being some other reason (the villain let him win, or was sick/dying/distracted, etc).

Often a cheap explanation for their strange prowess is “they’re the Chosen One so that’s why they’re so gifted”. While some people DO have talents in certain areas more than other people, nobody is ever super skilled at something they’ve never done before or have only done a little bit, talented or not. I want realistic character growth, not coincidental “Lucky Chosen One” trope excuses.

Disliked Trope #5: The Best Ever

Now, this one I can either love or hate, and unfortunately typically I end up disliking it due to unrealism. This trope makes someone, often the main character with the Chosen One trope, The Best at some important skill to the plot. The best pirate captain, the best swords-master, the best archer, etc.

A character can be very skilled at something, but typically there is someone who is better than them. Not only is it unrealistic to know if you’re the best in a medieval/ancient world, there will always be someone better, without some sort of logical reason (like if one single character has lived hundreds of years longer than the others, that makes sense he would be the best at something).

An example of this was Sir Lancelot in the King Arthur Legends. He was said to be the best knight ever. However, I did like how they showed Sir Lancelot in this trope because, while nobody ever defeated him, there were two people who he never could defeat either–Sir Gareth, and Sir Tristan. And his son, Sir Galahad, completed the quest he never could, showing that, though in prowess he was superior, he had weaknesses in the other areas of knighthood (chivalry, purity, and honor, namely) that others far surpassed him in. So really, was he the best knight?

Disliked Trope #4: More Than Two Love Interests

I’m picky with romance in general, but this is probably my least favorite of all romantic tropes. Some people term this trope the “harem” trope since there are so many love interests the MC has to choose from, and at the end of the story he or she ends up with one, leaving the others bereft. It’s nice when the MC gets with the character you like, but with so many possible love interests (I’ve seen up to six or eight, even) the chances of that go down.

With video games, it’s fine since the player gets to choose who they want, but in books the author chooses from all the characters who the MC finally ends up with. Not only that, but it annoys me (especially with female characters) where all these guys/girls love the single MC. Like, how realistic is it to have three plus people like someone at the same time? Unless the MC is an incredible flirt and defrauds all these people, yet another reason for dislike.

Disliked Trope #3: Fantastical Creatures

I also mentioned this one in the linked post above so I won’t go into this one as much. I do understand many fantasy lovers like fantastical creatures, and if I can understand the reason for their being there other than just “it’s a fantasy world” then I’m a little more forgiving with this one. But I especially hate fantastical creatures when they could just be another human ethnicity save for the fact that it’s a fantasy world so let’s make it a fantastical creature for no other reason than that.

Disliked Trope #2: Super Powerful/Perfect Female (Especially as a Love Interest)

So before you misunderstand, I am not saying I like females/female love interests who are weak and helpless and need a man to save them. No, that’s not what I’m saying. I want a female character who is capable of taking care of herself and is complete by herself.

However, I dislike the female love interests who are so “powerful”, whether physically, mentally, or magically, where it seems like everyone else is just sidekicks. They either make no mistakes or only minor ones which are easily taken care of and everyone always supports them. They hardly have any serious troubles or they are so powerful and/or knowledgable, they really technically don’t need help from the other characters except for the fact that they can’t be everywhere at once.

An example of this (in my opinion) was Allura from the Voltron: Legendary Defenders series. While not everyone may agree with me, I found her to be very annoying, and too perfect. While she make mistakes, they were either very minor, or everyone else made them too, as if the authors artificially forced her to make mistakes for the sole reason to make her more “imperfect”. She rarely made a mistake of her own and she was always looked at as a hero. I never watched the last season (and never will) but with seven seasons and very little development, I highly doubt she improved much in the last season.

Disliked Trope #1: Good Witches, Sorcery, and Wizards

And my most detested trope of all time, “good” witches, sorcery, and wizards. Now, this one needs a little explanation. First, is like, in the Narnia series, the White Witch–she’s a villain, and she represents the devil. She’s evil–so I’m okay with witches/wizards portrayed like this. I also don’t mind magic (if one considers sorcery and magic one and the same) if it is either allegorical, scientifically created, an inherent part of the world, or God-given.

Any other type, I don’t like. Evil witches or wizards I don’t even like, and I especially hate “good” witches, sorcery, and wizards. Why? Because, as a Christian, the Bible says in multiple places that witches, mediums, sorcerers, and necromancers should be put to death, that His people should not seek them out and defile themselves by doing so, and that any who partake in such will have a portion in the lake of fire and will be cut off from His people (Lev 19:31, 20:6,27; Rev 21:8).

While one might think reading about them or watching them isn’t a big deal since they aren’t actually one of them, the Lord says someone will be cut off if they search them out (Lev 20:6; searching them out could also be writing/reading/watching something with a “good” one, especially when they make them seem good when God says they’re not). Some people might even think they don’t really exist. Well, they do–there are real witches, satanists, and people involved in the occult who know these things are real, and God Himself says so. So as a Christian, I figure it’s best not to play with fire or disobey the Lord, and that is why I especially dislike “good” witches, wizards, and sorcery, because there is really no such thing as a “good” witch, wizard, or sorcery, according to the Bible.

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So there you go! I hope some of these tropes have given you some inspiration for your own stories, whether you use the ones I like or dislike. Let me know if you do use one of these! What are tropes you like? What are ones you dislike? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading! ~ Kay Adelin